Friday, May 08, 2009

What Should I Talk to my Pediatrician About?


This is one of my angel's referral photos. She looks so sad. There is not a smile in any photo I have of her. Hold on my babygirl, Momma's coming.

I meet on Wednesday with Dr. Mike. I adore Dr. Mike. He is an amazing pediatrician who speaks at our adoption agency's medical presentations. He has a son from Korea. He is Sophia's pediatrician.

I want to know what to ask him. What medications should I ask him for? I know that Sophia has had open heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart. But I have no medical information about her surgery. I want to be prepared. I don't want to forget anything. I want an antibiotic that doesn't require refrigeration, something for parasites, something for ear infections. What about the scar down her chest? What do I do for it?

Please share with me what you took when you went to China to meet your child.

18 comments:

Patricia said...

Oooohhhh....that sweet, sweet face!! Yes, I am sure you will put a very big smile on your Sophia's face!!

I can't remember everything now, but we did take children's Tylenol & glad we did as Kiara had a cold/cough when we met her. We took other things too (motrin, benadryl), basic stuff which we didn't really need.

I've heard that vitamin E cream is great for scars, you might want to ask your ped. about that?

If you'd like, I still have my packing list & I would be glad to email it to you...just let me know!

Kim said...

I am not sure on meds.. but I know that YOU and Tim will be the BEST medicine that Sophia can get..
Hugs..
Happy Mother's Day..
love ya girly..

Musings from Kim K. said...

I can't wait to see her little face in a big smile someday soon.

Our doctor gave us medicine for scabies (I doubt you'd have to worry about that based on how nice her orphanage is). We also had Amoxycillin (enough for all of us as a general antibiotic).

Other stuff:

My migrane medication (definitely needed), topical antibiotic ointment, bandages, gauze, tape, scissors, and tweezers, Children’s Tylenol, ibuprofen, decongestant
Pepto-Bismol tablets, sunscreen and bug spray.

day by day said...

What a sweet little face!!!

I would probably steer clear of the benadryl and I would not worry about the scar at all while you are in China. Have some Mederma handy for when you return home. Not sure how much that really helped E's scar as compared to just time.

Did you get the card we sent your way??

Happy Mom's Day!!

Unknown said...

ask about immunizations for her. ask if you need to go ahead and consult a cardiologist and if you can go ahead and ask what meds she can take just in case.

Will he redo all the immunizations? Does he understand about attachment and bonding? Does he recommend anyone to help with that?

Linda said...

Happy Mothers Day to you!!! I know that your family, especially Eli will be putting a smile on your beautiful girls face before you know it. It's amazing how short a time it is before you see the spirit of their little hearts come shining through.
I'm so excited to watch your journey and see the miracle happen..... Linda

kerri said...

We took scabies medications, a good antibiotic that you could mix with sterile water(no.refrigeration needed). We took the over the counter meds such as gravol and Advil.
Happy Mother's Day to you Kimberley....

Roy and Lori said...

Just wanted to say hi!

Sophia is so beautiful. We are
so happy for you and Tim! It
won't be long now. Best wishes
as you prepare to go to China!

Congrats and hope your Mothers Day
is a good one!

Take care,

Lori and Roy

Truly Blessed said...

Did I ever send you our packing list? If not, let me know and I will.

About medications, make sure you ask for a good, all purpose antibiotic for all four of you - we took the Z pac for all of the adults/older kids who can swallow pills and amoxicillin for the little girls. Also, scabies medicine (we never used it, you can probably just take ours!) and, of course, a whole box of OTC goodies (children's ibuprophen or Tylenol, hydrocortisone, etc.) We probably overdid on the medications (took earache drops, nasal drops, etc.) but didn't need them.

As for questions for Dr. Mike, you're limited as to what you can ask him now, before you meet Sophia. Of course, you'll want to make an appointment with his office for as soon as you're back in the states, and he'll want to look over her immunization card -- you should ask him what his office's protocol is about IA children and immunizations: are they the A) disregard the whole immunization card and start over, B) believe the immunization card and keep going from that point or C) run titres for everything to make sure that the child is immune to it...good information to have.

You might ask him his opinion on starting her on vitamins while you're in China vs. waiting until she get home (our pediatrician wanted the girls to wait as he wanted to see what their blood work showed before they became "Americanized").

Hope to get together with you before you leave!

Oh, and if I don't see you tomorrow at church, have a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!!

Luna said...

Your Sophia Jane is simply beautiful!! I haven't seen a photo of our Ava with a smile yet either. We just have to get them home.

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

Oh what a gorgeous photo... even though she is not smiling... you know... I sit here and think that even though it isn't a Mother's Day for me... I am sure that Shauna has been born so I am having a Mother's Day of my own - from afar...
Hugs to ya.

Anonymous said...

Happy Mother's Day! I have been following your blog for the last few months, congratulations on your adorable Sophia Jane!!! We adopted two years ago, and have been very blessed. Regarding your ped. visit, the best advise I can give is see if your pediatrician will give you his cell phone number so you can call him directly from China if need be. It was invaluable to us to be able to talk directly to our MD at anytime of the day or night! Julia might not be here today if it weren't for his reassurance and expert advice. No Chinese MD talked english or even understood our questions when we needed to take Julia to the hospital. She was very sick when we got her and we had no idea what was wrong with her. She is wonderfully healthy now and was shortly after our return home, but without my MD advise we would not have been able to get on the plane. Not trying to scare you, your girl is alot older than Julia was and very different circumstances to be sure! God will protect and provide His grace in any situation. Looking forward to hearing when you get your TA. Our prayers are with you and your family.

Donna said...

We used a pediatrian who heads up an IA clinic at a university. She prescribed Azithromycin 100MG and Permethrin (cream for scabies). We didn't need to use either of them, but felt some security knowing we had them just in case. We also had a boat load of over the counter stuff that was recommended. If you don't already have a good list of OTC meds, let me know and I'll send you ours.

Donna :)

Holly said...

Oh Kimberley...she is so beautiful.
Okay, focus Holly-focus.
Medicines to take to China: (and a few other random recommendations)
For you (and any other adult traveling with you):
Antibiotic- I took Cipro
DEFINITELY Pepto tablets. We all had 2 a day while in China...started taking them before...about 3 days before I think. (Our Dr. has 4 children from China so he'd totally been there done that!)
Benadryl (if you are a light-weight to help you with sleeping)
Ambien (if it takes a lot to knock you out- I fall in this category!) You will be SO happy to have something to help you sleep with the huge time difference!
Anti-diarrhea medication
Tums
(and I didn't take this but will ask for it next time- Phenergyn- in case you get the pukes....it stops them and helps you to sleep.)
Anti-motion sickness meds (we got Equate's version at Wally World)
Cold and sinus medication
***nasal spray- for on the plane...the air is SO dry and I forgot to bring ours and we were pretty uncomfortable
tylenol/ibuprofin
laxative pills (can you tell I totally have lived with GI issues all my life:!)
eye drops
tissues (keep this with you in a purse or backpack for the trips to public squattie potties)
hand sanitizer
antibiotic ointment, bandaids
ear plugs (for use on plane)
sleep mask (for use on plane)
journal and pen (to use on adoption day to have the orphanage director write out a wish for your daughter...you can later ask you guide to write out the translation in English for you/her)
several sizes of Zipl*c bags...comes in handy for all sorts of things!
Antibacterial wipes
some sort of stain stick for on the spot stain removal until you can get your clothes to laundry
bug wipes or spray...Guangzhou is humid and buggy
Bible- this really helped me get through some emotional times...it was a huge comfort!
We also took my hubby's laptop and it was super easy.
I am so super excited for you! I can't wait to see Sophia smiling!!
Love,
Holly

Holly said...

oh duh- I totally forgot about Sophia's list:
powdered antibiotic with instructions as to how much water to add. We DID have to refrigerate after mixing but we had a mini fridge in both of our hotels, so it was no problem.
Your doc will need an estimate of her weight for the prescription.
Also we got the doctor to tell us how much benadry! we could give him in case he was stuffy or if he experienced motion sickness...yes it helps with that!!
We didn't take meds for lice or scabies and you can't really treat for parasites until you get her home and tested properly- boy that is loads of fun, wait for it!
Josiah did have parasites, but we had NO clue in China! Yucky!
We also took baby tylen@l...I think Sophia might need Children's you will have to check. We also took M*trin for him and a cough syrup just in case. We did use the antibiotic the second week and it helped a lot.
I would also recommend taking a good thick lotion/cream as many Chinese children have very dry skin. Poor Josiah's seemed as it it had never been moisturized before...extremely dry.
He still has dry skin and I use lotion on him all the time.
I think we took an anti-diarrheal for him and a stool softener just in case. Some children have bowel changes due to nerves and change in food when changing to their new families.
I can't think of anything else right now!
Blessings to you my friend!

Rachael said...

She is such a darling little girl. I can't wait to see her home with her family and smiling in photos on your blog!

Doug and Terrye said...

I know that you have already met with the Dr., but I had to comment on your little angel's face. When we received our referral photos our daughter had an expression much like your daughter's. My heart broke as I stared at it, and wondered what was behind those scared little eyes. When they first placed our daughter in our arms she shut down, but by the first night we had her first smile to record! I'm praying that God will prepare your little angel's heart to meet her family.

Terrye in FL

polkadot said...

You NEED scabies meds. I got scabies from a four-star hotel in Nanchang. I wanted to die from the annoying itching on that long, long, long flight home!